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Attention deficit - living in a sick sibling's shadow
Dan Court, Andrew Rogers and Shauna Kearney
This article discusses the development and work of a nurse-led team that offers support to the brother or sister of a child with a serious illness. 74 children aged 5 – 12 years were referred for therapeutic work, which was in the form of a group. The children developed a book resulting from this group that explored their sense of self, their feelings about their relationship with their sibling, and life changes. Most of the children found the group helpful and parents found that once their child had attended the group they had become more interested and caring about the ill sibling.
Another planet
David Goldberg, Anna Griffiths and M Magdalena Viera-Maria
This article describes how staff on Jupiter, an adult psychiatric ward, have made it adolescent friendly. They discuss what has worked, and what the difficulties are. For instance, they found that the first few minutes of an adolescent’s arrival are critical, and that a warm welcome is very important. Plus, they found that pre-planning admission was very important.
Childhood lost
Angela Neustatter
This article is based on a survey (carried out by Young Voice), of young people in Islington, London. More than 2,000 young people aged between 10 and 16 took part in the survey which looked at the experiences of young people identified as being 'at risk' The criteria for being at risk was answering positively to two or more questions on weapons and carrying weapons; gang membership; bullying others; disliking school; being frequently depressed and having suicidal thoughts. Of the 315 children identified as being at risk, 169 responded positively to two characteristics, while 8 had scores of six or more. By age 13 the ‘at risk’ group represented 20% of all participants and it rose further in the following teen years. One of the key recommendations from the report was to reach children early before they are experiencing problems, and before they use damaging behaviour to cope.
Emotional Conflict
Fiona Gale and Ibrahim Lawson
This article is in two parts. The first part looks at how war can affect children, even if their only connection with it is via the television. The article also discusses how adults can help children with their anxieties and fears. The second part discusses how events such as the 11th September terrorists attacks in the USA, and the Gulf war could lead to British Muslims feeling more alienated, and being treated as ‘one of them’
Growing pains
Angela Neustatter
This article is based on a book which looks at the research by neuroscientists that suggests that a dramatic growth spurt and remodelling of the brain may take place during puberty. It is this brain development, and other factors such as hormones that may explain classic teenage behaviour.
Marching on - The Chicago Military Academy
Reva Klein
The author describes the Chicago Military Academy, a school of about 200 students, aged 14-18, and based on a military structure. The author states that students come from all over the city because the schools’ ethos appeals to them or their parents. This could be because some areas of the city have problems with gangs, youth crime and school dropouts, so this school provides a radical alternative. However, there is a high attrition rate, especially in the 2nd year, and they have a high failure rate. But, those who can cope with this militaristic approach do well.
Where Next?
Cathy Street and Jenny Svanberg
The authors highlight the key findings from a two year research project on in-patient care for young people. They found that many in-patient units are struggling with recruitment (especially of nursing staff), there is a need for more written and verbal information about all aspects of in-patient provision, there is a lack of post-discharge provision for young people and there are problems with availability of child and adolescent mental health service beds.
Opinion: Lessons from Easter Island
Malcolm Sinclair
The author discusses how children are often sidelined in the NHS and the various initiatives that have been set-up to tackle this i.e. Children's Trusts and the Children's NSF. He says that organisational edifices may finally be the solution to allow children to rise to be equal with adults in care priorities, but it will be the commissioning infrastructure, allowing sufficient time for leadership and above all, the real financial investment levels that will determine if children’s services (not just CAMHS) are left once again by the wayside like the Easter Island statues, or finally take their place as an integral part of the new health and social care communities that we are all striving for.
Review: Blue moon
Asleigh Rennalls Griffiths
Blue Moon tells the story of Mia, a 15 year old girl who falls in love, gets pregnant and runs away from home. Her life completely changed, she meets two women who help her with her pregnancy and try to convince her to reunite herself with her mother. This is a book about the reality of motherhood.
Review: Le fils (The son)
Imogen Le Patourel
A carpenter, Olivier, takes on a boy (Francis) as an apprentice. It turns out that Francis killed Olivier’s son a few years before, and has no idea that he is the father. Olivier becomes obsessed with Francis as there doesn’t seem to be much else in his life, and has an ambivalent relationship with him. His ex-wife, who is shocked that Olivier can have anything to do with him is pregnant and is moving on with life, where as Olivier seems trapped.
Review: Love works like this
Shelly MacDonald
This book documents Lauren Slater’s journey through pregnancy, birth and early motherhood. The author has a diagnosis of long-term depression and is on various medications. The book includes various pieces of research, and attempts to expose what we mean by maternal love and how it comes to exist.
Review: Meeting the needs of ethnic minority children
Elaine Arnold
This book is written by many authors of different professional backgrounds, such as psychiatry, psychology, family therapy, education, social work and youth and community work to name a few. It contains 15 chapters representing perspectives on working with children from minority ethnic groups. The strength of the book is provision of practical examples of work with children and young people, and vivid illustrative case studies.
Review: Sex files
Andrew Kintu
This book is filled with colour illustrations and is full of facts on topics such as puberty, contraception, and emotional as well as physical issues around sex and growing up. There are 3 funny chapters on what can happen before, during and after sex.
Webwatch: Money, money, money
Paula Lavis
This column looks at where you can find information about specific funding streams for CAMHS.
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